US baseline tariff of 10% or otherwise on S'pore 'not ideal' but 'we can live with it': PM Wong

As the Aug. 1 deadline set by United States President Donald Trump on tariffs approaches, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that Singapore can "live with" the baseline tariffs, while working to update economic strategies.

He was speaking at a dialogue during a conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) on Jul. 29.

Not long before that, on Jul. 28, Trump had announced that his administration will set a baseline tariff rate of 15 to 20 per cent for the "rest of the world".

The U.S. has already negotiated several deals, including with the UK, EU and Japan, with tariff rates ranging from 10 to 15 per cent.

Singapore had previously been subject to a 10 per cent rate, among the lowest of those announced by Trump on "Liberation Day", Apr. 2.

When the moderator of the dialogue remarked that Trump seems to have settled on 10 to 15 per cent tariffs, Wong said, "It keeps changing. We are not sure what the final figure will be."

He noted that Singapore is receiving the baseline rate, which is "the lowest category".

"It's not ideal — but we can live with it," he said, adding that he sees many opportunities for Singapore to do business and trade with the U.S.

Not passive

Wong believes that "there is no country that can replace the U.S." in upholding and leading the global order, and we would thus see an increasingly fragmented world.

However, he disagrees that Singapore is helpless in dealing with the global uncertainties.

"We have to be realistic and take the world as it is," he said. "There is not much we can do to change these large, powerful forces, but at the same time, we are not passive bystanders."

He emphasised the need for the government and society to think about how to prepare Singapore for a changed, messier world.

The government is "doing everything [it] can", Wong said.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong was also in the U.S. for trade talks from Jul. 20 to 26.

Singapore is also working with other countries to strengthen bilateral and regional partnerships, and multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

There is progress towards completing the first-ever global set of rules for digital trade, Wong shared, as an example.

He also highlighted that there is more to do to strengthen Asean integration, so that it is easier for businesses to navigate the region.

"There is so much more we can do to offer a single market to make operations seamless across Southeast Asia," he said.

Top image from Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI)